Don’t Give Lou Dobbs a License to Kill Spitzer’s Drivers License Bill

Andrea Batista Schlesinger

Don’t Give Lou Dobbs a License to Kill Spitzer’s Drivers License Bill

Lou Dobbs is at it again. His target this time? Governor Eliot Spitzer and his plan to provide drivers licenses to New Yorkers regardless of their citizenship.

In developing your own opinion on the Governor’s proposal consider this: If, like Lou Dobbs, you believe political pandering that exploits fear should be used to stall a much-needed conversation about immigration policy, you should join his knee-jerk opposition to Governor Spitzer’s plan. But if you want a common-sense approach that follows the lead of eight other states and would make New York’s people and streets safer, go with the Governor.

Washington's failure to achieve consensus on an immigration bill should not obscure the fact that commonsense immigration laws have strong majority support. Americans believe it is neither feasible nor desirable to deport the 12 million undocumented immigrants currently here. Instead, there is consensus in favor of providing a path to citizenship for immigrants of all kinds who learn English, work hard, and participate in the American system. Unfortunately, the anti-immigrant sentiment fostered by Dobbs and his ilk kept Washington from pursuing it.

Some local political leaders have followed Lou Dobbs’ lead in trying to harness anti-immigrant sentiments to increase their popularity. As was reported recently in The New York Times, towns like Riverside, New Jersey, who have chosen this anti-immigrant path, now stare at their empty main streets and wonder who exactly their policies were designed to benefit and how they went so terribly wrong.

Governor Spitzer, on the other hand, knows that the country needs real solutions that will bring immigrants into our system. To that end, he proposed reviving a pre-2004 policy that offered licenses to competent drivers regardless of their immigration status. In so doing, he is following the lead of numerous other states that issue driver’s licenses based on ability to drive – not immigration status. Governor Spitzer’s proposal will keep our streets and communities safer by reducing the number of unlicensed, untrained drivers on our roads and dramatically lowering the number of people who lack verifiable ID. This policy will, not insignificantly, enable the immigrants of New York State to live normal lives by being able to drive to work, pick up their groceries, take their children to school, and do all of the other things we take for granted.

Unfortunately, Lou Dobbs, ever in search of higher ratings, went on the attack, exploiting New Yorkers’ understandable fears about terrorism by presenting immigrants as a security risk. The truth is that New Yorkers and all Americans have a stake in the implementation of practical immigration policies because the American middle class relies on the economic contributions of immigrants – be they legal or illegal. Immigrants are consumers and taxpayers. They are entrepreneurs. They provide the services that native-born Americans rely on from morning until night. They resuscitate struggling neighborhoods. They keep our Social Security system solvent. They are not terrorists.

It is not xenophobic for Americans to worry about the impact of illegal immigration on their livelihoods and communities, but the best way to address that is to bring illegal immigrants out of the shadows. When immigrants are treated as if they are beneath the law, everyone suffers. This is especially true in the workforce, where the presence of workers without any rights brings down the wages and workplace conditions of American workers and makes it difficult for law-abiding business to compete.

We also need to protect Americans on the roads. We want drivers who have demonstrated their ability to drive to the State. We want drivers with insurance. Even so, it is understandable that some questions and concerns would arise from Spitzer’s proposal. What impact does this plan have on our security as a nation? Will this policy render drivers licenses null and void? How will this policy impact the ability of native-born Americans to do things like board a plane and enter office buildings? These are precisely the questions responsible political leaders should be asking and debating.

But not all have. Instead, some elected officials like James N. Tedisco, the minority leader of the New York State Assembly, are making provocative pronouncements like this one: “Osama bin Laden is somewhere in a cave with his den of thieves and terrorists, and he’s probably sabering the cork on some Champagne right now, saying ‘Hey, that governor’s really assisting us.’” Assemblyman Tedisco strains credibility when he insinuates that somehow the 12 million illegal immigrants living in America are terrorists working for Al Qaeda. But he did get his name in the papers, and the New York State Senate has just passed legislation that would overturn the Governor’s policy.

When I hear misguided sentiments like that Assemblyman Tedisco’s, I know that it is Lou Dobbs who is actually swilling the Champagne. This kind of talk may boost ratings for him and his junior varsity imitators, but if we let it be a substitute for real debate, the joke will be on all Americans.

Andrea Batista Schlesinger: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 3:45 PM, Oct 23, 2007 in Immigration | New York
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Comments

Taking into consideration Spitzers 10 month track record as the misguided Governor this latest debacle comes as no surprise! I am sure by now we are all aware the KEY word here is "illegal" any way you care to slice it and dice it still comes up as illegal. So Spitzers approach is if you can't beat them you join them?

All decent law abiding citizens are not against immigration this country was founded by immigrants, all of our ancestors are immigrants, other than the real deal which are the Native American Indians! What we are against is "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS" having the law bent in their favor while putting the rest of us in harms way because we are burdened with an inept Governor, who has a hidden agenda! ;- Even considering giving let's say " Issuing A Special License"/ID of sorts for the sole purpose of driving and having auto insurance but could not be used for voting purposes and traveling is better than what Spitzer proposed but, it still flies in the face of what is legally accepted for all and what is not and this is unacceptable as it will have no end to law bending for special interests!!

Legal = : conforming to or permitted by law or established rules.
Illegal + UNLAWFUL , ILLICIT ; also : not sanctioned by official rules.

One of the main problems here is Spitzer pulled the wool over the unsuspecting voters eyes in order to get the vote, now the people are seeing the real deal in action and it ain't a pretty picture. I take my hat off to Lou Dobbs and Jim Tedisco and anyone else who speaks out against this ego maniac who planned to be the ungoverned Governor! The second problem stems from the time when Spitzer was AG, then he made himself come off as the knight in shinning armor, now due to his cocky-ness and superiority complex and multitude of hidden agendas spitzers real deal is hitting the fan big time. Think back in his hay day Spitzer supposedly went after Wall street with a vengeance, his claim to fame in those days was to clean up wall street, no one company was to big or to small he went after them all. However he never once went after one of the biggest culprits which just so happens to have millions of lawsuits leveled against them for swindling the little guy, the mom and pop, the middle class, the voters, the people, the unsuspecting peole, these are the people Spitzer allowed to be destroyed. The company and his partner in crime the CEO he is still protecting to this very day is none other then American Express and it's CEO Ken Chenault. Just incase some of the readers are not aware of this other fact, in March of this year this shady governor appointed Ken Chenault to be a Co- Chair on his Economic Advisory Committee.

Don't take my word for any of this just check it out and see for yourselves.

The best thing that could come out of "Spitzers I am King Attitude" is to call for his IMPEACHMENT!
BTW The very unamerican express was involved in 3 murders and one possible suicide last year in Florida due to beating out hundreds if not thousands of retirees out of their life saving and pensions by steering them into aggressive accounts. All is documented all can be proven. Wake up people we need to call for IMPEACHMENT NOW! His future goal is the Presidency.........

I find it so amazing that whackos, like the preceeding commenter, will foam at the mouth for the impeachment of a new Governor who shows his humanism, while at the same time,(I'm assuming here now)will turn a blind eye to an administration that is evicerating The Constitution and the humnan rights, within. They are not backers of the status quo, far worse, they prefer a pre-historic status quo. They want to march into the past. If all this effort to demonize and equate as terrorists, these immigrants, was to be applied to actually solving the problem, as Gov. Spitzer is doing, we'd be going forward instead of the reverse. I am so sick of this line of thinking. This kind of arrogance and selfishness is unbelievable, while at the same time people like these profess to have such "Strong Christian Values". I view them, as, I have written their stance. They are truly "Parenthetical Christians"

I hope that it is possible to separate out frustration with Governor Spitzer and this particular policy, which is the policy of several other states with Governors whose last name is not Spitzer. It is policy because it is smart, which is why a long line of prominent Americans who are experts in defense as well as immigration policy support it - from Richard Clarke to LAPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. People have all different kinds of status in this country. No one is inherently legal or illegal - those are decisions made by government. In this case, I think it is better to know who exactly is living among us, and Spitzer's proposal requires valid identification in order to apply for a NYS license. This plan isn't brazen, it's relatively low key. People who aren't citizens still won't be citizens, regardless of whether or not they have a license. They are still subject to the outcome of a federal debate. This is about making our communities and streets as safe and livable as they can be ... NOW. Thanks for your comments.

Schlesinger-
"Americans believe it is neither feasible nor desirable to deport the 12 million undocumented immigrants currently here."
I don't agree with that at all, Americans can do anything they set out to do. It is impractical but we could do it, but the best plan is "Attrition by Enforcement". You and Spitzer have no right to give away what many of us fought for or worked for. The illegal immigrants need to go back of their own volition. We need to punish the employers who hire them. The greatest war Americans have ever faced is the one that exists now between employers who seek greater profits via cheap labor and the American working middle class. If we lose to illegal immigration, we will be conquered for the first time.
If an illegal immigrant is an "undocumented worker" then a drug dealer is an "unlicensed pharmacist".

Dear Batista: you fight for your native land, not America. Clearly you no drive in New York. Already, this week, 8 Latinos kill cop in road rage. Girl beaten to death by day labor and hung in bathtub. License to drive getaway car. Your name...andrea batista. You fight for the criminals of your homeland.